Page 45 of Save Us
“How did he get that number, Kai?”
“I can honestly say it wasn’t through me,” he replies, then swallows uncomfortably, but I believe him. “You’re Angela Lawrence, and he’s got media contacts, so who knows?”
“Oh, God,” I gasp as panic begins to spread through my body, “he won’t be able to find out what I look like, will he?”
“Hey,” he says seriously, cupping my face and forcing me to look at him, “don’t worry about it. You have enough things to think about without the ‘what ifs?’.”
“Yeah, ok,” I sigh sadly. “Kai, can we talk about anything other than Mayfield, Oliver, or my grandfather? You know, pretend like we’re back at school before you knew anything about my predicament?”
“Sure,” he smiles warmly, “that would actually be pretty cool, Rose.”
And that’s exactly what we do. For nearly an hour, we talk about everything we might talk about on a normal friend date - school, the beach, Bodhi, living in New York, what it was like being pregnant, as well as what I learned about my grandmother. Although emotional, it’s completely…amazing! To have a natural, free-flowing conversation about ‘normal’ subjects and without the fear of being reprimanded if I say the wrong thing. It’s a momentary breath of fresh air in what is an otherwise intense and terrifying life that I lead. I tell him about my hopes and dreams for Rosie, Xander, and my little brother, Riley. He then tells me about Serena and how she’s a bit of a wild child, which leads me to reminisce about how Casey had changed in the last few weeks of school, just before I was taken away by Oliver.
“As much as I would love to stay here with you, Rose, there’s someone who wants to speak to you. His name is Jonah Fox, and he’s working with me. You met him the last time we got together on this bench,” he tells me, looking a little sheepish, no doubt because of the unimpressed expression on my face. I can’t say the guy made a very good impression on me. He was much too cryptic, too arrogant, too much like my husband.
“Who is he, and how the hell do you know someone like that?” I ask in a whispered voice, not knowing if he’s about to jump out from the bush behind us. I can’t work out how Kai would know someone like that. They seem to be the complete opposite of one another. “He was seriously…something I can’t put my finger on. Intense?”
“Yeah, I get that, but he’s on the right side, Beth, trust me. He wants to help you, so just hear him out. For me?”
His eyes instinctively lift up to focus on something behind me, prompting me to turn and follow in his line of sight, only to come face to face with the same scary-looking man from before. He’s smiling at me with an intimidating stance that renders me speechless, much like the last time. Kai bobs his head at him before kissing me goodbye on the cheek.
“Remember, tell me of any new movements; it’s important, Beth,” he whispers inside of my ear. All I can do is smile shyly at him, still with one eye on the man watching our intimate goodbye. I then watch him walk away, all the while wishing he was staying with me.
“Mrs Lawrence,” Mr Fox greets me, bending down to pick my hand up and kiss the back of it, “I trust you are feeling better after your…accident?”
“And what do you know about my accident?” I ask, not trusting him at all, even with Kai’s endorsement.
“I know you didn’t deserve it,” he replies as he sits next to me, with his strong, masculine scent making me feel dizzy. “So, now I want to help you. I know what Oliver wants from you; besides everything else that he’s already taken.”
“And what is that Mr Fox?” I cross my arms defensively as he stares out into the park before us.
“An heir,” he replies a little bluntly, “and I completely agree with your reservations about it. For starters, he’s likely to lose his temper with a small infant, and how might that end?”
I feel a cold shiver run through me when his words hit me like a hammer to the head. I hadn’t even considered how miserable Oliver could make a child’s life. I know I’ve never regretted my decision to let Rosie go, to give her up for a better life. I’m already beginning to fear his future attacks on me, knowing they’re becoming more frequent and more violent. What chance would a child have against one of these outbursts? Not to mention, the child would be brought up as a true, traditional Mayfield man or woman with their outdated teachings. It doesn’t bear thinking about, and up until this point, I’ve tried really hard not to.
“So, I’m giving you this,” Fox says, snapping me out of my desperate thoughts and sliding a small white card along the bench. I wait a few brief moments before picking it up and scanning the words and numbers along the business card. It simply reads Dr Raymond Price, followed by a phone number and an address that is not too far away from here. “He is discreet and will give you a contraceptive shot that will last about a month,” he explains. “Should be long enough,” he continues, but almost as though he’s saying that last bit to himself. “The bill has already been taken care of.”
“Why are you doing this?” I ask, frowning at the thick white card before placing it inside of my jacket pocket. “You don’t know me.”
“Let’s just say your husband has seriously upset me, and the very last thing I want is any more Lawrences in the world,” he answers with a grin on his face. “But also, because you’ve had a shitty deal, Beth, you and your real family. Believe it or not, I know how important family is, and I also know what it’s like to lose someone important to you.”
“A girlfriend?” I venture to ask but he simply smiles at me in such a way I feel silly for having suggested such a thing.
“No,” he eventually says, “a sister.”
“I’m sorry,” I tell him, still feeling embarrassed for my earlier assumption.
“Thank you,” he replies, so I look up to see him staring at me intensely, the way Oliver does when he wants to devour me.
“Was it you? Did you give Xander my number?” I ask, desperately wanting to change the subject so he’ll stop looking at me like he is. Thankfully, it works, and he pulls back. He then nods slowly as he looks out over the park again. “Why?”
“I thought you might have needed some reassurance of his feelings for you, even after all this time, especially after your husband had tried to kill you.”
“I don’t see what difference it makes,” I reply sadly, “I’m still trapped. It’s probably a good thing if Xander does move on.”
“Perhaps,” he shrugs, his expression giving nothing away as to how he feels about the situation. “But I bet it felt good at the time. I have to go, Beth, but I will see you again. Soon.”
“Thank you,” I reply, but he just smiles and leaves without another word.